International donors are expected to pledge $4.4 billion in aid of the Syrian people at a Brussels conference Wednesday (April 25th), AFP reported.
"My best guess is that by the end of the day we will have heard pledges for 2018 of $4.4 billion," said Mark Lowcock, who heads the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
"I want particularly to thank the EU, Germany and the UK who have made exceptionally large pledges today," Lowcock said.
Pledges of a further $3.3 billion for 2019 and after were expected at the conference, which groups more than 80 countries, aid groups and agencies.
The money is needed for humanitarian work inside Syria and to support refugees in neighbouring countries, the UN says.
The UN official had earlier told AFP he hoped to see $8 billion pledged.
